"We will reopen this (placement of migrant workers to Saudi Arabia)," Minister for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, Abdul Kadir Karding, said here on Friday.
"We have also started discussions and negotiations with the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Human Resources and Social Affairs," he informed.
Karding said that of the 600,000 workers who will be sent to Saudi Arabia, 400,000 will be domestic workers and 200,000 will be formal workers.
The sending of Indonesian migrant workers will be legalized through a memorandum of understanding signed by the Indonesian and Saudi Arabian governments in the near future in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The initial departure of Indonesian migrant workers to Saudi Arabia will be carried out from June 2025. The quota will be adjusted later by the Indonesian government.
President Prabowo Subianto, according to Karding, has approved the lifting of the moratorium on sending Indonesian migrant workers to Saudi Arabia. The President has also asked for a training scheme to be prepared for workers.
"Thank God, he agreed and asked us to prepare the training scheme as well as their placement later. We will submit another report to him on the plans that we have prepared," he added.
The moratorium on worker placements in Saudi Arabia has been in place since 2015.
It was imposed in response to the smuggling of at least 25 thousand workers every year to Saudi Arabia illegally or non-procedurally.
Translator: Mentari Dwi Gayati, Yashinta Difa
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
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